American Dreams: Gaining Inspiration from Time in the Wild

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American Dreams: Alone in the Vast Expanse

By Norma Jaeger Hopcraft

I'll take you into the Great Swamp again, covering new territory today, the Orange Trail. This is about as wild and untamed as it gets in New Jersey.

These are autumn pictures, but that's okay, it doesn't look too much different right now.

I'm leaving my imprint on nature (my shadow).

See the path through the center? It's nearly lost in the undergrowth. This is not a well known place.

That's the path, low in the center. Will I make it back to civilization?

The path, through the middle again. It's just a smudge...

Evidence of Superstorm Sandy: mature trees snapped like twigs.

They almost made it into a fourth airport for New York City in the 1960s. How about you? Do you have a county, state, or national park near you? Do you find solace in it?  Comment below!

American Dreams of Wandering in the Wild

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Dreams of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

By Norma Jaeger Hopcraft

We're waiting for dreams of spring to come true. While all is still dormant, I want to show you one of my favorite haunts, the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris and Somerset counties, New Jersey.

I especially enjoy being in my other favorite haunt, New York City, with its crowded sidewalks and bustling millions in the morning, and taking a solitary ramble in the Great Swamp in the afternoon.

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What color combinations nature gives us!

The far reaches of the swamp, still showing the impact of Superstorm Sandy.

More Sandy damage.

Fabulous lichens.

Growth rings, stress marks, grays and browns.

This is called "Plymouth Wreck" on the maps. Every year it's a little more sunken, more decrepit. How did it get here, in the middle of all these big trees? A mystery of the Swamp. How about you? Do you like to wander alone in the woods? Or in cities? Or both? Comment below!

American Dreams of Leisure

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Leisure, Taken on an As-Needed Basis

Don't we dream of leisure time? Many of us must take it in small chunks, which perhaps makes it all the richer.

Here's a preview of spring in the Great Swamp, taken on a leisurely stroll through the Somerset County portion of the swamp.

Couldn't be more rustic, could it?

A boardwalk disappearing amongst newly leafed-out trees. Love the chartreuse!

The path beckons on, and then on some more...

Just like the twists and turns of life...

Wish I could tell you the names of these flowers...Anybody know? Post a comment!

Another crisp white flower.

Violets, New Jersey's state flower (can you see Governor Chris Christie 

wearing a boutonniere of them?) mixed with unidentified white stars.

Boardwalk through a marsh. These paths just pull me along...

Why Spy? Five-Minute Video of the First Chapter of My Novel

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This is not much related to my trip to Savannah, but it's related to adventure, the adventure I'm taking with writing.  I wrote the script and my friend Robert Duncan advised me on it, and he filmed it and I was the production assistant, which means I fed everybody and held an umbrella over the camera when it drizzled for five minutes.